Dynamic lighting versus delirium

A design element of the new Jeroen Bosch hospital will allow the hospital to conduct a clinical trial to test the effect of dynamic lighting on the incidence of delirium in the ICUs.

Here is a statement of the problem:

Delirium is a frequently encountered problem in ICU patients and leads to increased morbidity and mortality; Delirium in the ICU is associated with sleep deprivation which is among others caused by a disrupted circadian rhythm; Dynamic Light application aims at restoring a proper circadian rhythm by rhythmically alternating light intensity and has shown beneficial effects in sleep quality. Whether DLA improves sleep quality and reduces delirium incidence in ICU patients is not known.

The experiment is made possible because the hospital installed this kind of lighting system in its new ICUs. The lights in the ICU rooms can automatically mimic the intensity and color of light during the day at this latitude. In this experiment, some patients will experience this dynamic lighting regime, while a control group will experience the usual levels of ICU lighting. More details about the experiment are here.